Established Agitators To Join Occupy Wall Street Protest Next Week

Going into its 14th day, the Occupy Wall Street protest is not only not fading out, it’s about to get a big injection of support, and bodies. The established New York City labor and community groups who normally organize local marches, rallies and sit-ins, have announced they plan to join up next week.

Crain’s reports that the groups include The United Federation of Teachers, 32BJ SEIU, 1199 SEIU, Workers United and Transport Workers Union Local 100. The Working Families Party will help organize it, and MoveOn.org will help promote it.

“We’re getting involved because the crisis was caused by the excesses of Wall Street and the consequences have fallen hardest on workers,” a spokesman for TWU Local 100 told Crain’s.

“We’re not trying to grab the steering wheel or to control it,” Michael Kink, executive director of the Strong Economy For All coalition told Crain’s. “We’re looking to find common cause and support the effort. It’s the right fight at the right time and we want to be part of it.”

Modeled after this summer’s demonstrations in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in which protesters occupied the area 18 days, the Occupy Wall Street’s objectives are multifarious, but they generally all object to corporate influence in American politics and decry Wall Street’s contributions to the recent global economics crises.

This week celebrities Michael Moore and Susan Sarandon paid visits to the movement. Roseanne Barr, Russell Simmons, and Lupe Fiasco have also popped their heads in.

Veteran agitators flock to Occupy Wall Street [Crain’s]

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